ALAMEDA  Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie is looking ahead to the next seven games, but the NFLs 2016 executive of the year agreed to answer questions from local media Thursday about a 4-5 start that has his club on the verge of playoff extinction.

Wed like to be more in the win column for sure, McKenzie said. But our record is what it is and our play is what it is. So well focus on getting better and winning and winning the next game. Thats where we are right now.

Issues addressed by McKenzie included:

The possibility that training camp distractions (Donald Penns holdout, Gareon Conleys legal issues and injury, Marshawn Lynch not standing for the national anthem) played a role in early struggles . . .

As far as the hoopla of what was said and done during training camp, thats what training camp is about. You fight through all that stuff . . . by the end of training camp, we were fine. Donald came in and got right in and we didnt miss any games with him. Thats no excuse on the record if thats what your alluding to.

Whether Conley, out since Week 3 with a shin injury, will play this season and the severity of his injury . . .

Well see whats happening after when we come back from the weekend and see if we can do anything early in the week, and well make our determination from there . . . its just peoples bodies are different, when you have those type injuries, you wait and see if it can heal and feel better and good enough to play. He was feeling better, then he had a setback . . . if he cant go, then he cant go and were going to have to move on. But were going to give him every opportunity to see if he can do it.

The effect of Conley being unavailable . . .

Theres no question we miss him. He came in hitting the ground running. We felt really good about him during the offseason until he got kicked and thats the way it is. But he is a good football player and he will have a great career.

A 27-10 Week 3 loss in Washington, and if it affected the teams confidence . . .

I dont know about the confidence, but it shook em. It shook all of us. It shook us enough so that everybody had to look in the mirror and say lets get this thing going. This is not who we are. We had to regroup. But it was a punch in the gut.

Marshawn Lynch being suspended for leaving the sideline against the Chiefs . . .

Marshawn knows what he can and cant do. And his mindset was to get out there and felt like he had to do something. Thats the way he took it. Did I talk to him? Yeah, I talked to him, and he understands the whole issue. Its a non-issue moving forward.

The struggles of integrating Lynch with the offensive line . . .

I just think the guys need to continue to sustain their blocks. I mean, a runner is a runner, to try and get a feel for the guys in front of him. Weve got to block better. Weve got to run better. Weve just got to get better all the way around.

If linebacker NaVorro Bowman could figure in to the Raiders future . . .

He could . . . any time you come two years off an injury youre always going to be better the next year. So thats not going to be a deterrent. He can still play.

Why the Raiders havent been better along the offensive and defensive fronts, an area he and coach Jack Del Rio consider of vital importance . . .

Were working on that. If I could put a finger on it, Im sure those guys would have already done it, coaches and players, thats something were trying to improve on and thats just the way it is. Youre working your passing game and your running game and making it flow, and we just got to get it all together. And we will.

Whether he is concerned about the lack of productivity in the last two draft classes . . .

Im really not. Its more about the players that are playing. Id just say with this draft, other than the two injuries, the other guys from a role standpoint, is there. The two offensive tackles have just got to sit and wait their turn. But we feel good about what we have in the draft.

Sebastian Janikowskis health and if hell be brought off injured reserve with Giorgio Tavecchio kicking well . . .

You dont have to rush him back, thats for sure. Giorgios done a great job. Hes really stepped up to the plate and has been kicking well. The need to bring another guy in here is not there, but Seabass is moving forward with his progress and I think he will be ready to roll here shortly if needed. Now, right now, theres no need to rush anything.

The possibility that Derek Carr has been affected by the enormity and responsibility of his $125 million contract . . .

Thats something youd have to ask Derek, but I dont think so. I dont think Derek is letting his contract factor into the way he plays.

His assessment of offensive coordinator Todd Downing . . .

I’m not going to sit here and evaluate coordinators with you guys. But it’s obvious we need to get better offensively and score some points and move the football and help the defense out. And vice versa, the defense has to get the ball back for our offense. We have to continue to work together in every facet of our game, starting versus New England.

The lack of offensive production . . .

It’s obvious that some of the games that we lost we were not able to put up some points. We definitely need to get better there and find a way. We have some guys we feel like can get that thing done and that’s what they’re working on. We’ll get it done. We just have to be consistent in the way our approach is.

The inability of 2016 second-round pick Jihad Ward to contribute on the defensive line . . .

Last year we moved him to a different position. He kind of played a number of different positions. I don’t think he was quite mentally ready to understand the techniques of them all. There were three different positions he was playing. That’s a little different for a guy who hasn’t really played D-line for a while. He’s still in the learning process. If there’s an opportunity for him to get in there and play he’ll be ready.

Whether it was a mistake not to sign any defensive free agents last off-season . . .

I think the bottom line is trying to get the best players to help your team at that point. You have enough money to sign certain guys. By the time we got the opportunity to sign some of those guys on offense, we went after it. We felt like those guys were better than the players we were going after on defense. More impactful . . . we just could not do it on defense. We tried to address that in the draft.

Whether he anticipates getting Khalil Mack signed to a long-term contract this off-season . . .

Yes, I do. Hopefully his agent feels the same way.

The need for sacks (the Raiders have 13) and pressure from players other than Mack . . .

There’s chances to make more plays. We have to make more. I think it goes hand in hand. I don’t just want to bet up the pressure. We have to have better coverage. We have to have the total package. It has to get better. We have to be better on defense. Not just offense.